Stream live audio

donkeyKICK

donkeyKICK

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Jul 24, 2007
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I have a customer who wants to stream live audio (radio show). Does anyone know what plugin I'll need for this? It is low budget so free is best.

Thanks!
 
I dont know if there is any plugins for shoutcast servers or not. I think I might of seen one long time ago but you would have to search the forums. Usually shoutcast servers dont need a control panel... once its up and running it usually doesnt need to be touched.
 
So, what is a shoutcast server? Do I have to dedicate a server for the function, or is it just a service running?

What about webcasts?

Thanks!
 
I use shoutcast server on my freebsd setup. Once it is installed all you need to do is input the ip and password that you put in your config file in shoutcast ini and simply connect

Well it isnt that simple but almost. I do not use anything but Sam Broadcaster and shoutcast server. You can also do a live radio show with winamp and a dsp plugin and all of it is free except for sam broadcaster
 
And this can be used for a LIVE radio show? My friend / customer is a DJ, and also does something called "chopping". He has guests that he wants to be able to interview and play music. He needs it to be live, and will be answering phones on the radio show.

Isn't winamp a windows product?
 
Yes. Thousands of radio stations use Shoutcast to stream live over the web.

Winamp and Shoutcast are not related (they were built by the same company but that's it). You can however use winamp to stream to shoutcast, who streams it to users online.

shoutcast_diagram.gif


To stream (send audio, video live) you can use winamp, SAM broadcaster and other tools. Setting shoutcast is a 5 minute work, install is simple (copy it, chmod it, run it).
 
sce,

You forgot the last thing:

Pay for the bandwidth

;)

Seriously, though, if you're going to use Shoutcast with lots of streams, watch your data transit and bandwidth to avoid surprises.

Jeff
 
I've been unable to find a way to limit transmit... Is there a way I can cap it?
 
I recommend you not mix streaming with hosting on the same server. Find some cheap servers for streaming, and sell them separately. We use WHMCS to tie together hosting and streaming accounts (with CentovaCast) and it works real well. But we keep our hosting servers nationally to maintain good latency and such. Bandwidth is going to be the critical factor with streaming, like jlasman has warned.

Cheers
 
Good suggestions, Cyberneticos.

I'd recommend getting servers with unmetered capped bandwidth.

For example, a server with a 10mbps connection that won't go over. They may not be the cheapest servers; it all depends on the bandwidth providers. For example, Cogent bandwidth is a lot less expensive than Level 3 bandwidth. But you won't have any surprises.

We offer such servers; so do a lot of other people.

Jeff
 
I do shoutcast hosting on a dedicated server just for streaming as well as support for one of the internet radio licensing agencies. I operate a internet radio station as well named RadioNC Online. Cast-Control has the option to integrate with DA built into it. That is what I use. Depending on how many slots you have and what bitrate a user wants, you are limited on how many consistent connections you can carry without issue. As jlasman said, you need dedicated bandwidth for this and a 10mbs switch would be a minimum. I would recommend not webhosting on the stream server because if the bandwidth is used up folks can't get to their websites. To many listeners means major buffering for the listener. If it is for only one customer it is cost prohibitive to stream. If however you are going to offer it as a host option for your business to all, you may be able to justify the expense. From experience I can tell you that if you do not provide premium bandwidth or oversell your bandwidth, you will lose customers quickly. There are lots of bandwidth calculators online to get an idea of how many connections you can carry on say 10mbs switch at 128kbs, the usual preferred stream rate. ;)
 
It is for a friend who wants to do a live show (I think for an hour a day, or maybe 2 hours a week, I am not sure). Beyond that, he will have some streaming from within a blog.

I am looking into free ways to go until the ball get rolling, and there is merit for a commercial app. I've really been laggin on this... Good thing he is busy and not in a hurry...
 
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